Frames for stracking pallets

ABSTRACT

A FRAME FOR STACKING PALLETS VERTICALLY, WHICH IS FORMED OF 4 ADJOINING SECTIONS SLIDABLY INTERLOCKED AT EACH CORNER. THE FRAMES ARE FORMED TO REST ON THE PERIPHERAL UPPER SURFACE OF EACH PALLET AND INCLUDE FLANGE SECTIONS TO RESTRAIN HORIZONTAL MOTION RELATIVE TO THE PALLETS.

P 1974 H. w. EAGLAND Re. 28,163

mums ron srzmcxme PALLE'IS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec. 26, 1967INVENTOR:

P 1974 H. w. EAGLAND Re. 28,163

FRAMES FOR STRACKING PALLETS Original Filed Dec. 26. 19s! 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTOR;

W W W United States Patent Oflice Re. 28,163 Reissued Sept. 17, 197428,163 FRAMES FOR STA-CKING PALLETS Harold Walker Eagland, deceased,late of St. Annes, England, by Phyllis Eagland, executor, St. Annes,England, assignor to Palletower Limited, St. Annes, Lancashire, EnglandOriginal No. 3,447,490, dated June 3, 1969, Ser. No. 693,466, Dec. 26,1967. Application for reissue Jan. 19, 1971, Ser. No. 107,695

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Dec. 30, 1966,

58,251/ 66 Int. Cl. B65d 19/18 US. Cl. 108-53 3 Claims Matter enclosedin heavy brackets appears in the original patent but forms no part ofthis reissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates theadditions made by reissue.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A frame for stacking pallets vertically,which is formed of 4 adjoining sections slidably interlocked at eachcorner. The frames are formed to rest on the peripheral upper surface ofeach pallet and include flange sections to restrain horizontal motionrelative to the pallets.

This invention relates to a method of stacking pallets by means offrames and to frames for use in stacking pallets and trays according tothe method.

In present day industry where pallets are used to carry articles it is adifficulty that often the amount of factory space is not used mosteconomically and in the case where the loaded pallets are not stackedone on top of the other, a huge amount of factory storage space iswasted.

Various methods and means for arranging the pallets to be stacked one ontop of the other have been proposed.

One such method is to provide a box-like open free standing frame havingshelves spaced vertically by the amount the pallets are to be spaced,the loaded pallets then being placed on the shelves. This has thedisadvantage that the frame takes up a considerable space itself andunless actually loaded with pallets this space is wasted. Also the framestands on the ground and therefore must be of overall dimensions greaterthan the pallet itself with the result that space again is wasted.

Another arrangement envisages mounting four posts on the corner of thepallet and then mounting another pallet on the tops of the posts. Thissuffers from the disadvantage that the support provided by the posts forthe upper pallets is very unstable, particularly where the stackedpallets are being carried by a forklift truck which they notinfrequently are.

It is an object of this invention to provide a method and means whichaims at obviating or mitigating the abovenamed drawbacks.

According to this invention there is provided a method of stackingpallets one above the other, comprising mounting on a first pallet abovethe top peripheral edge thereof, and in an upright manner, a collapsibleframe which in effect extends the sides of the pallet upwardly, andmounting a further pallet on top of the frame.

Further, according to the present invention there is provided a framefor use in the method aforesaid, said frame comprising detachablyinterconnected section and being adopted to lie above the top peripheraledge of a pallet to form continuations of the pallet sides, to extend inan upright manner therefrom and to define a support for a further palletto be placed on top thereof.

Preferably the sections slidably interfit. The frame sections arepreferably for a rectangular pallet and comprises four in number one foreach end of the pallet and one for each side. Each section is preferablyof metal bar construction and the sliding connection is such that inerecting the frame on pallet, the end sections are mounted on the palletand the side sections are lowered vertically to effect the slidinginterfit with the end sections.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in diagrammatic form, of a frameaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view to an enlarged scale showing how framesections are interfitted; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional plan taken on the line III-III of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings a frame for stacking rectangular palletscomprises four sections, two side sections 10 and two end sections 11which detachably interfit at the upright corners. In FIG. 1, only oneupright corner is shown in full lines as all the corners are the same.Each section is rectangular in shape and has cross struts indicated by12 for strengthening purposes. The frame is tailored to be mounted onthe top peripheral edge of a pallet 13 so that the sections in effectextend the pallet sides and ends upwardly and top plates and angles 14and 15 serve for supporting an upper pallet 16 indicated in dotted linesin FIG. 1. Another frame according to the invention may be mounted onthe top of the upper pallet 16 and so on. The handling of the palletswill usually be done by fork-lift trucks and pallets 13 and 16 will beconstructed for this purpose. The pallet may be lifted with the framemounted thereon.

In FIG. 2 there is shown the structure which enables the interfitting ofthe side and end sections 10 and 11. Of the section 10 the upright endpost 17 is hollow square section and the end face has a longitudinalslot 18, which slot has a widened end 18A to provide a lead-in for aflange 19 on the adjacent end post 20 of the adjacent end section 11.The end post 20 is generally L-shaped in cross section but the edge ofone arm of the L-section is provided over the major part of the lengthof the post with the flange 19. The flange is removed to an extent equalto the thickness of the upper cross beam 21 of the side section 10 atthe top end and by the height of the pallet 13 or slightly less at thelower end. By doing this, the cross bar 21 can rest on the cut away partof the post 20 and so the plates 14 lie flush with cross angles 15 ofthe section 11 and at the lower end the pallet can snugly abut the innerfaces of the L-shaped post 20. The lower end of the post 20 may or maynot extend to the ground. More particularly it may be made greater inlength than the depth of the pallet so that the frame is free standingand although the pallet is held captive the weight of superimposedpallets is not imposed thereon. The lower part which fits round thesides and ends of the pallet below the peripheral top edge has the mainpurpose of preventing horizontal relative movement between the palletand frame but it may or may not serve another function.

The upper cross angle 15 of the section 11 is an angle iron to retainthe upper pallet 16 in position. The bar 15 is welded to post 20.

Section 11 has a lower cross bar 22 the ends of which lie on the insideof the base of the L-sections of the posts 20 (see FIG. 3); bar 22 iswelded to the posts 20.

As is clearly seen in FIG. 2, the end sections 11 are first of allplaced with the lower crossbars 22 resting on the periphery of thepallet 13, the corners of said pallet fitting snugly into the innerfaces of the L-shaped posts. Next the side sections 10 are simply raisedabove the end sections and are lowered, ensuring that flanges 19 engagein the posts 17 through slots 18. Now the frame is complete and an upperpallet may be placed on the top thereof and a further frame placedthereon. Of course the articles may be stacked on the pallets before orafter the erection of the frame. i, V t

On referring to FIG. 3 it will be seen that the lower crossbars 22, 23rest on the periphery of the pallet and not on the ground. In practiceit has been found that the lower crossbars need project as little ashalf an inch towards the interior of the pallet, and thus the minimum ofspace is used up.

The frame sections 10, 11 will generally be of metal, for example iron,steel or alloy, but it may be that some synthetic plastics material maybe used.

Modifications may be made, for example, the frame may be of anothershape to suit different shaped pallets and instead of the sectionsinterfitting there may be means for linking them together.

The above described frame provides several advantages over existingarrangements viz,

(1) The pallet surface area is reduced by a minimum amount, e.g. 4 andyet increases the overall dimensions by only a small amount in eachdirection;

(2) It is very strong because of the connection between sections oversubstantially the height of the corner posts;

(3) The frame has no internal or external projections which could causedamage;

(4) When pallets are stacked two or more high, the weight is evenlydistributed around the entire pallet periphery preventing pallet flexingduring lifting;

(5) The frame can be very simply erected or dismantled by one operator.

(6) The rigidity of the frame increases when the pallets are stacked twoor more high on top of it.

What is claimed is:

1. A frame for use in stacking pallets one above the other, said framecomprising,

a plurality of frame sections for mounting on the top peripheral edgesof a pallet,

means defining sliding interfits between the vertical adjoining edges ofsaid sections when said sections are mounted on top of a pallet restingon the pallet top peripheral edge,

extensions on the bottoms of said sections which overlap the sides andends of the pallet to prevent the frame from moving horizontallyrelative to the pallet,

means defining a seat at the top end of the frame for a further pallet,and

lateral side [and end] stops to prevent any pallet mounted on the top ofthe frame from moving laterally horizontally relative to the frame.

2. A frame according to Claim 1, wherein each sliding interfit betweensections is formed by a box sectioned post with a longitudinal slot cutin one side on one section and a flange, lip or tongue which can slidein the slot on the adjacent section.

3. A frame according to Claim 2, wherein the frame sections are for arectangular pallet and comprise four in number, one for each end of thepallet and one for each side.

References Cited The following references, cited by the Examiner, are

of record in the patented file of this patent or the original patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,676,776 4/1954 Townson 10853 2,776,775 1/1957Averill 108-53 X 2,863,568 12/1958 Skhbie 108-53 2,935,284 5/1960 Berry10853 2,940,697 6/1960 Machielse 108-53 X 2,956,763 10/1960 DArce 108533,160,120 12/1964 Skhbie 108-53 3,177,823 11/1965 Entel 10853 3,195,4817/1965 Verguin 10853 3,224,388 12/1965 Skhbie 108-53 BOBBY R. GAY,Primary Examiner G. O. FINCH, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

